Naples

I wanted to see Pompeii, and see it I did.

A few words about Naples first.

This is not a place you want to spend too much time. It's just not nice. While I mostly used it as a base to explore, the time I spent there just wasn't very enjoyable. Yes, it's dirty, and yes, it's a bit rough. I needed a jumping-off point to see the ruins, and this is kind of it unless a tour would be joined, and I just don't do tours.

I did have a bit of an adventure with the hotel. I was told, by all means, do not stay near the train station as it is quite a rough patch, which it was. I found a place about 2km from the station off a main road, which would have been great except there are no real street signs or reason to the streets, and good luck finding a building number. After much wandering around dark alleyways, I stopped at a pizza place and asked where I was. The woman grabbed my arm, dragged me deeper into the maze of alleyways to a door with a teeny tiny sign that I would have never concluded was place to stay. I was buzzed in with much fanfare and thankfullness, but stumped by the coin-op elevator in the lobby. It only took 5 cent euro coins. So, up 6 flights of stairs I huffed my way up, to a very apologetic and weeping woman. Like, bawling. I found out later that she had just found out that her nephew had died suddenly, but, wow. Talk about awkward. She didn't speak a word of English, but it was fine, and she gave me coins for the elevator to boot. It was a really cute place- it was basically a family apartment that she rented out the bedrooms for a very reasonable price.

Walking around was a bit of an adventure. The streets were filthy, and it made me long for the urine-stench of Paris streets. The landmarks were filthy. Everything just looked dirty and beat up and unloved, and there was a disturbing amount of what I suppose to be children prostitutes about.

Every once in a while, there would be a sign landmarking something, and it couldn't be read, which makes me suspect that there probably were more street signs in this town at one point.

But, whatever this structure was, it's covered in garbage now.

Also, there were squegee men (very vintage NYC!) and the traffic was so terrible that they barely had to jump out of the way when the traffic moved. You could have just sat there all day and gotten your windshield cleaned up. It's a good place to end a trip as it made me really look forward to my flight home.

The pizza was flippin' fantastic though. Totally made it worth my while.

Tomorrow, there will be ruins.